It is known in the art to- backlight automatic transmission shifters, particularly bezels associated with automatic transmission shifters, so that an operator of a vehicle can readily determine which gear is engaged. In the prior art, various examples of illumination or lighting indicators have been used for backlighting an automatic transmission. For example, it is known in the art to utilize incandescent bulbs which illuminate a sequence of translucent characters that indicate the sequence of positions on a shift lever. An additional indication feature is also provided by a separate translucent area underneath each character. In such systems a light emitting diode is confined to each concentrated translucent section and lights the associated area when the gear position is above that translucent area.
It is also known in the art to use a series of LEDs positioned under a character for each position of an automatic transmission shift lever. In this example, all of the LEDs are lit at a lower intensity except for an LED that is associated with the position of the shift lever which is illuminated with a higher intensity to indicate the position of the shift lever.
The prior art designs have several limitations including the use of incandescent light bulbs that generally have a short life in comparison to LED type lighting devices. Also, prior art designs utilizing many LED devices positioned along a shift lever lead to a high cost for lighting an automatic transmission shifter. There is therefore a need in the art for a light guide for an automatic transmission shifter that has a low cost, and a longer service life and energy efficiency than current prior art devices.